3 of 4 LDS Go Five & All Were 1-Run Games
The wins by the Cardinals and Brewers yesterday were just crazy. Add the Tigers nipping the Yankees by a run in their Game Five to that – and we had three LDS this year going down to the 5th game, and being decided by a run (each).
Putting Yankees fandom aside for a moment, and just looking at all this as a baseball fan, I have to say “Holy Smucking Foke!”
It’s a shame that the Rays couldn’t push the Rangers to a Game Five too. Now, that would have been something.
So, no Yankees, Rays, Phillies – or Red Sox – in this post-season now. Ditto the D-backs – and Braves and Giants. Who would have saw that back in August?
It’s left to the Tigers and Rangers, and, the Cardinals and Brewers.
I hope that both LCS go seven games – and the World Series too. Again, as a baseball fan, this could be a post-season for the ages.
Cardinals-Brewers should be good since those teams hate each other.
How do you think FOX feels this morning – no Yankees or Red Sox in the LCS?
Answer: Not as bad as the Phillies fans do. The train derailed on their media stamped automatic bid to the World Series, and their cleanup hitter may already be out for the 2012 season.
So much for starting pitching being the key to the postseason, eh?
Raf wrote:
Yep.
And so much for genius GMing acquiring ace after ace is a guarantee of post-season success.
Last year, they added Halladay and Oswalt. Result: no title.
This year, they doubled down with Lee. Result: no title.
Teams need to be good at a lot of things to win it all, and even then, Billy Beane is right; the post-season is a crapshoot.
Some random shots…
DYK there have been 9 different World Series winners in the last 10 years (2001-2010)? And should the Brewers knock off the Cardinals it will be 10 different champs in 11 years.
As for the Phillies: They went from World Series winners, to World Series losers, to NLCS losers, to NLDS losers. So what’s next?
I think I remember the Phillies from the 1990′s. Didnt’t they call themselve the Braves back then?
There is no such thing as Santa Claus or a genius GM.
Ryan Howard did a great imitation of Alex Rodriguez in the LDS. I especially liked the part where he fell flat on his face after making the last out. Nice touch. Howard went 2 for 19 (.105) for the series, including 0 for 8 in the last 2 games. In fact over the last 3 years Howards SA has gone from .571 to .505 to .488.
The Red Sox and Phillies in the World Series? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Jim TreshFan wrote:
That Phils team only made the playoffs once, in 1993.
You missed them getting bounce from the LDS in 2007, so if the recent pattern’s any indication they’ll win the series next year
Jim TreshFan wrote:
Possible torn Achilles tendon. I think that’s a reasonable excuse for falling down running to first.
What’s not as excusable, but par for the course, was the Phillies fans booing, although that may have been more for the team than for Howard.
Evan3457 wrote:
It may have very well been for Howard, but I doubt that the fans knew that he had a torn Achillies.
@ Raf:
WQhat i meant was that the Braves were the team du jour in the ’90s (all that pitching!) as much as the Phils are today. Both teams won exactly one World Championship.
@ Evan3457:
Yes he injured himself running out a weak grounder to first. But he’s got about 5 months to heal, so I wouldn’t worry too much. What I meant was that his falling was aptly symbolic of his performance over the last two games—pathetic. Yes, the Philly fans booed. That’s what Philly fans do best. About 40 or so years ago there was this promotion at a Philadelphia sporting event where they introduced Santa Claus to the crowd. What do you think the crowd’s reaction was?
@ Jim TreshFan:
Ryan Howard’s quotes: “I hit the ball and I’d have to watch the tape. It felt like my bat came around and hit the back of my Achilles. I was trying to run and I just felt this pop. The whole thing just went numb, like it was on fire. Just tried to keep going and went down and literally felt like I was on a flat tire. I don’t know. I tried to get caught, and just couldn’t go.”
That “pop” usually indicates a tear of some sort. If so, that’ll knock him out for what some say is 6 to 9 months, which would eat out at spring training time and the start of the regular season. Achilles tendon issues are tricky for heavier-set guys like Howard, so I hope for the best.
Raf wrote:
Wow, you’re right, excellent point!
Who would have thunk it?!
Evan3457 wrote:
Yep, and sometimes I think it’s just baseball karma. A team gets hot at the right time like the Giants did last year or the Rockies in 2007. If you watch carefully, you can usually tell which team is going to win by the little things that happen in the games. Like John Sterling would say, “You just can’t predict baseball”.
The only thing a GM can really do is try to improve his teams chances. I would think the Phillies GM did his job but the players let him down. Ditto for Theo Epstein and Brian Cashman.
Every team that advanced won the majority if not all of the close games. Just saying.
Jim TreshFan wrote:
Ah, gotcha!
Greg H. wrote:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/ten-things-about-one-run-games
It’s impossible to predict the playoffs. It really is. It is a crapshoot to a large degree and Beane was right.
There are some mitigating factors though. Really, if you look at one of the reasons this Yankees team was so strong during the year, it was because of their depth. Guys like Nunez, Jones, Montero in September, Cervelli, and Chavez contributed and filled in well throughout the season. However, they were a complete non-factor in the playoffs- in part, because Detroit was right-handed in their rotation, in part because of the short nature of the series.
Raf wrote:
No, but he was crumpled on the ground in pain. That should’ve been enough, but wasn’t.
Evan3457 wrote:
Yeah, I just saw the replay on MLBN. I thought it was something like a pratfall, or he slipped getting out of the box. He was clearly hurt when he went down.